A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

DEATH OF A PLAYWRIGHT: Arthur Miller, dead at 89. Leaving aside the whole marrying and divorcing Marilyn Monroe thing, and the fact that one of his plays ("The Crucible") is read by seemingly every American high school student, the best witness to his greatness is to look at the actors who have played roles he wrote on Broadway:

• Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich in a 1984 revival of "Death of A Salesman"
• Ron Rifkin, Amy Irving, and Frances Conroy in Miller's 1994 play "Broken Glass"
• Allison Janney, Anthony LaPaglia, and Brittany Murphy in a 1997 revival of "A View From The Bridge"
• Brian Dennehy in the 1999 revival of "Death of A Salesman"
• Patrick Stewart and Frances Conroy in "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan," Miller's last original play to reach Broadway.
• Laura Linney, Liam Nesson, and Kristen Bell in a 2002 revival of "The Crucible"

Even if Miller's later plays didn't reach the brilliance of his early work, he was a tremendous talent whose plays never shirked to tell the hard truths that we (and sometimes he) didn't want to hear. It is indeed a loss.